Hand held, electrically powered, wood planers are well known in the art. Conventionally, such wood planers comprise a housing in which is located an electric motor and a major portion of a cylindrical rotatable planing tool to which power can be transmitted from the motor.
An opening is provided at the bottom of the housing near the middle of the planer for allowing a minor portion of the planing tool to project therefrom. This opening is usually rectangular, but it may take a plurality of regular or irregular shapes.
The rotational motion of the planing tool generates a circular cutting motion known as the cutting circle. The section of the cutting circle that impinges onto a work piece is known as the cutting arc.
The bottom of the planer is provided by a base comprising two base plates extending from either side of the cutting arc of the planing tool, with a small amount of clearance maintained between each base plate and the cutting arc of the planing tool.
The base plates provide a means for contacting the work piece and thus stabilising the planer in operation.
The planer is held in a manner, when operated, whereby the planing tool rotates on an axis parallel to the plane of the work piece to be planed.
The planer is operated in a single direction with the unplaned portion of the work piece contacting the leading base plate and the planed portion of the work piece contacting the trailing base plate.
The extent by which the cutting arc of the planing tool can impinge on a work piece is determined by its location relative to the leading base plate. Typically the base plate can be raised or lowered to determine the depth of cut, that is to say, to allow for the removal of, say, between 0.1 mm and 3 mm of wood stock in a single pass against a work piece. One or more passes against a work piece are made until a required thickness or amount of wood stock has been shaved or planed away.
In operation, an electric wood planer will first contact the work piece with the leading base plate, then with the cutting arc of the planing tool, and finally with the trailing base plate. The planer will then typically leave the work piece in the same order, with the final contact being between work piece and the trailing base plate.
In this manner, the leading base plate stabilises the planer as the planing tool approaches the start of the work piece and the trailing base plate stabilises the planer as the planing tool clears the end of the work piece.
Both leading and trailing base plates are used to stabilise the planer after initiation and before termination of the work piece, with the operator tending to apply the majority of pressure to the rear of the planer such that the planer is pushed forwards from a position behind the planing tool as opposed to being pulled forwards from a position ahead of the planing tool. Correspondingly, it is conventional that the trailing base plate tends to be larger than the leading base plate in many electric planers.
The planer is held in a manner, when operated, whereby the tool rotates on its axis and numerous passes against a work piece are made until a required thickness or amount of wood stock has been shaved or planed away. Such wood planers are effective when operating in open, unobstructed spaces, but are ill suited for operating in confined spaces or near an obstruction because of the restrictions imposed by the length of the base plates, and where small amounts of wood stock may need to be shaved.
Where there is an obstruction close to the start of the work piece the position of the trailing base plate limits the positioning of the cutting arc, and thereby the initiation of planing, to a point beyond the start of the work piece.
Initiating planing by plunging the planing tool straight into the work piece at some position a distance away from the conventional starting point is both difficult, since the trailing base plate is conventionally in line with the cutting arc of the planing tool, and unhelpful since this leaves a substantial amount of wood stock between the plunge point and the start of the work piece still to be removed by other means.
By limiting the size of the trailing base plate the cutting arc can be brought closer to the start of the work piece. However, an absent or minimal trailing base plate makes termination of planing at the end of the work piece both difficult and potentially hazardous, since the trailing base plate performs an important role in stabilising the planer at the end of the planing process.
Where there is an obstruction close to the end of the work piece the position of the leading base plate limits the positioning of the cutting arc and thereby the termination of planing to a point before the end of the work piece.
By limiting or truncating the size of the leading base plate the cutting arc can be brought closer to the end of the work piece. However, an absent or minimal leading base plate makes initiation of planing both difficult and potentially hazardous, since the leading base plate performs an important role in stabilising the planer at the start of the planing process. Further, since positioning of the leading base plate is the principal means by which the depth of cut can be controlled its complete removal is not practical.
Presently, when it is necessary to shave wood stock from the top or side of a door for a proper fit with the door frame, a tradesman using a conventional wood planer will often need to firstly remove the door and operate the planer in more open space, before rehanging the door. This task is laborious, and time consuming, and bears the risk of handling damage.
Furthermore, for shaving wood stock from a bowed or misaligned framing stud or stud noggin located near an obstruction, use of a conventional wood planer may not be possible and instead a hammer and a chisel may be required. This may be particularly important when trying to bring the edges of a plurality of framing studs into alignment for the proper installation of drywall panels or tile underlay sheets without the panels or sheets becoming twisted or bowed. Although a hammer and chisel may be used for this purpose, they are both laborious and time consuming, and require a high degree of skill.
It has been found by the present inventors that none of the prior art apparatus and methods provide an effective, stable and unhazardous means of shaving or planing small amounts of wood stock from a door, framing stud, stud noggin or other work piece as may be required for small adjustments in thickness in confined spaces or near an obstruction, whether the confinement or obstruction is located at the start or at the end of the work piece.
There is therefore a need to provide an improved planer that overcomes one or more of the abovementioned disadvantages.